United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs (7506P)
Washington, DC 20460
EPA 735-KO-9001
April 2009
I.
The Value of Countries Working Together to
Regulate Pesticides and Food Safety
In the 21st century, food production and distribution are global.
Pesticides are developed and marketed globally for use in controlling
agricultural and other pests, and pesticide residues often remain in
the food we eat. Scientific research and advances in risk assessment
and management are also global. Decisions on pest control and
pesticide management made in one country can have global
repercussions. Increasingly, the agricultural labor force crosses
national boundaries. Therefore, to achieve public health and
environmental protection goals and fulfill our statutory and treaty
mandates, our national pesticide program must actively engage with
international partners.
Since 2001, U.S. agricultural trade has more than doubled,
from $91 billion to about $195 billion. Food imports have
increased from $39 billion to $80.5 billion. While this expanding
international trade in food helps ensure a varied, abundant, and
affordable food supply, it also underlines the critical importance of
ensuring that foods that may contain pesticide residues meet high
safety standards. Working with source countries is a critical
component of our multifaceted safety scheme.
Many pesticide ingredients and pesticide products used in the United
States are manufactured abroad. Since the 1960s, those pesticide
imports have increased dramatically. It is in America's interest to help
ensure those foreign products are safe and effective.
International regulatory, scientific, and risk communication work on
pesticide issues advances public health and environmental protection
in the United States and worldwide. It improves the effectiveness and
efficiency of regulation, builds capacity that enhances sound
management of pesticides, and encourages the development and
deployment of effective pest control technologies in the United States
and globally.
About Some of Our International Partners
OECD - The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, an
intergovernmental organization consisting of 30 industrialized countries in
Europe, North America, Asia, and the Pacific.
NAFTA TWG - The North American Free Trade Agreement Technical
Working Group on Pesticides, a collaboration among the pesticide
regulatory government agencies of the United States, Canada, and
Mexico, initiated in 1997.
Codex Alimentarius - The joint food standards program of the World
Health Organization and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Over
160 countries are members of Codex, and many other international
organizations and consumer, environmental, and industry non-
governmental groups participate as observers in Codex activities.
The Numbers
FOOD IMPORTS
$80.5 Billion (2008 data) 1
The United States imports food from over 150
countries1
44 percent of fresh fruit is imported2
16 percent of fresh vegetables is imported
(2003 -2005)2
55 percent of agricultural imports is from the
European Union, Canada, and Mexico
(FY2008)3
FOOD EXPORTS
$115 Billion1
One-third of U.S.-harvested acreage is
exported (wheat, corn, cotton, and soybeans),
according to USDA estimates3
$28 billion was forecasted in FY 2008 for
total U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and
Mexico, the first- and second-largest markets
for U.S. agricultural exports3
PESTICIDE IMPORTS
$2.2 billion in 20084
PESTICIDE EXPORTS
$2.5 billion in 20084
PESTICIDE USE
5.0 billion pounds
Estimated world pesticide use (2000-2001)4
1.2 billion pounds
Estimated U.S. pesticide use (2000-2001)4
Three-quarters of pesticide use occurs in
developed countries, mostly in North America,
Western Europe, and Japan3
Data Sources:
1http://www. fas. usda.gov/ustrade/USTExFatus. asp?
01
2http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/fts/2007/08
Aug/fts32801/fts32801.pdf
3http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/FATUS/DATA/XMSc
vl935.xls
4http: //www. epa.gov/oppbeadl/pestsales/
www.epa.gov/pesticides/international
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EPA s Regulation of
Pesticides:
Pesticide products intended for
market or use in the United States
must be registered by the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency's Office of Pesticide
Programs. The composition and
label content must be in
compliance with the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
Pesticide product imports that are
not registered with EPA or do not
meet EPA requirements may be
denied entry into the United
States.
PESTICIDES AND FOOD
Food containing pesticide residues
may be seized and destroyed if
they contain residue levels that
are not consistent with EPA's
established tolerances. Under the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act (FFDCA), EPA sets maximum
residue limits for pesticides in
both domestic and imported food,
to ensure the levels of pesticides
in food are safe. These maximum
residue limits are known as
"tolerances" (called MRLs abroad).
The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and the U.S.
United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) are
responsible for enforcing EPA-
established pesticide tolerances
on domestic and imported food to
ensure that any residues detected
are within these tolerances.
TOP 15 SOURCES OF U.S. FOOD
IMPORTS
Canada
European Union (27 Countries)
Mexico
China
Australia
Brazil
Indonesia
Chile
New Zealand
Colombia
Thailand
Costa Rica
Argentina
India
Malaysia
OPP's international work is fundamental to helping OPP achieve
key domestic program objectives:
• Safer Food: Reducing the possibility of illegal products (pesticides
and foods containing excessive pesticide residues) entering the
United States. Ensuring that food to be imported is protected at the
source is fundamental to the web of activities necessary to promote
a safe food supply.
• Collaboration with Enforcement Agencies: Improving
compliance with U.S. food safety standards by collaborating with
enforcement agencies. The Food and Drug Administration is
responsible for enforcing EPA's pesticide residue requirements for
most foods, and the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture is responsible for enforcement for meat,
poultry, and some egg products. This includes sampling and
enforcement for imported foods at the borders, as well as
domestically produced food. While preventing problems at the
source is our goal, enforcement remains an important tool and
deterrent.
• Lower-risk Pesticides: Promoting use of safer means of pest
control in the United States through greater international
harmonization. Without international collaboration, the health and
environmental benefits of safer means of pest control will not be
realized. U.S. agricultural producers/exporters will not use newer,
often safer, pesticide products approved by EPA unless residue
standards that reflect U.S. agricultural practices are in place for
those products in key export markets.
• Better Science: Improving the scientific basis of decisions by
utilizing a broader range of scientific expertise and sharing reviews
of scientific studies submitted in support of pesticide registration.
Better, more protective, and defensible regulatory decisions result.
Quicker actions can be facilitated through the international exchange
of ideas and priorities.
• Control of Trans-Boundary Pollution: Providing expertise on
the assessment and management of pesticides that affect the global
commons (e.g., most of the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
that are the focus of international attention are pesticides, as are
most chemicals identified under the Rotterdam Convention relating
to Prior Informed Consent/PIC for hazardous chemicals in trade).
• Protection of Agricultural Workers: Addressing the needs of a
common agricultural labor force in the Americas through more
effective training programs for worker protection, which also
reduces the cost to employers of meeting their training
obligations. Findings from the 2003-2004 National Agricultural
Worker Survey (over 6,000 workers surveyed) show that:
> 72 percent of the workers were born in Mexico.
> The agricultural workforce has a high turnover
rate, with foreign-born newcomers comprising 14
percent of the hired crop labor force.
Billion$
TOP 5 SOURCES OF US. AGRICULTURAL IWPORTS
FY2003-FY2008
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Canada • European Union-27 Mexico • China • /Australia
The top fresh fruit and vegetable imports include bananas, pineapples, citrus, avocados, apples, grapes, melons,
tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, asparagus, and onions.
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